She gave me a look of utter disbelief, but eventually nodded and quietly agreed to take Erica’s number from me. Frankly, it wasn’t like she had very many options.
Luckily, Noble was done being quiet and the last few blocks she kept up a steady stream of chatter, trying to explain her favorite movie, which I guessed was Star Wars if I was interpreting her rambling, slightly skewed words correctly. Apparently, she was a huge fan of Chewie. It explained why she used my name every chance she got.
When we finally got to the block where Orley left the car the night before, I was, once again, covered in sweat and needed another shower. I was acutely aware of the woman next to me. I expected her to complain about the heat and the walk… and the company. But all she did was entertain her daughter and repeatedly thank me for taking the time to look at the car, assuring me over and over again how I didn’t have to. She let it slip that she was planning on scrapping the car if I couldn’t get it started. She softly told me she didn’t have the money to get it fixed or to tow it to a garage. She watched me like she expected me to bolt after the admission, but the truth was, her words made me even more determined to get her car up and running.
When we rounded the corner, I heard Orley suck in a breath and could feel her preparing herself for the worst. It was a good bet the car would be up on cinder blocks, wheels missing, and everything else stripped down to the frame. It was good she had realistic expectations, but I was hoping against hope my city might surprise her.
“Oh my God.” She stumbled to a halt next to me and her hand landed on my arm. I was pretty sure she had no clue she was clutching me in her obvious excitement. “I can’t believe it’s still here.”
Her blue eyes were wide and there was no disguising the delight shining from them.
“Looks like your luck might be turning around.” I wasn’t going to think about how nice it felt to be part of that. “Let’s see what we can do to get you back on the road.”
I needed space because her light touch felt far better than it should.
There weren’t enough hours in the day for my skin to be buzzing and for my dick to be twitching every time she looked at me. There wasn’t enough of me to go around as it was. I couldn’t afford to lose any of the pieces I had left of myself to her, or to her kid.
Orley
I was too pragmatic to believe my luck would suddenly do a total one-eighty. But, when Solo managed to get the car started after only a few minutes of tinkering under the hood, I felt like I could actually breathe for the first time since it had crapped out the day before. If I could get around, then maybe, just maybe, I could find a job. That is, after I figured out what to do with Noble while I was out pounding the pavement. Solo muttered something about corroded battery attachments and loose connections and told me the car needed a tune-up in the worst way. I pretended to listen and promised I would take care of it as soon as possible. It was easy enough to lie to the back of his head. Not as easy when his knowing gaze, which I now knew was a deep, dark brown color, seemed to pick apart every word out of my mouth and judge every move I made. Considering the car was around four-thousand miles past due for an oil change, a tune-up was the least of what the vehicle needed. It was going to be a miracle if it kept running until I could scrounge up the funds to fix it. Fortunately, I was getting good at dealing with one crisis at a time. I was going to run the car into the ground and deal with the blowback of that decision when I had to. For now, Solo had saved the day, and once again I owed him more than a simple thank you.
Sadly, my thanks was literally the only thing I had to give to show my gratitude.
I watched with appreciative eyes as he unfolded his large body from the abyss of the engine. For such a big, broad man, he moved with a fluid grace, indicating he was very much in control of all the strength and brawn rippling enticingly under the cotton of his sweat-dampened t-shirt. I chewed on my lower lip and reminded myself how he wasn’t my type. I had no idea what to do with a guy who knew how to fix cars and toss around scary creeps on the street like it was nothing. I had no experience with someone who radiated barely contained power and solved his problems with his fists and fear.
I tried to hide my obvious ogling as he wiped his hands on his jeans in a move that seemed practiced and familiar. He closed the hood with a thunk and turned to look at me with a lifted eyebrow. It was hard to read his expression under the shadow the brim of his hat cast over his face, but I was pretty sure he was once again judging me and finding my basic life skills lacking. If you owned a car, it was your responsibility to take care of it. I knew that, I simply didn’t have the money to do so, and didn’t need him poking at that particularly sore wound. I got enough daily reminders about how spectacularly I was failing at pretty much everything aside from being a good mom.
Solo snatched off his hat and ran a hand through his short hair. When he sighed, it was deep and long, as if I’d single-handedly added a thousand more pounds to whatever burden he was already carrying. He cracked his neck, which made me jump, and narrowed his dark eyes in my direction.
I was holding Noble close to my chest. The combination of the heat and the walk to the car had proven too much for her. I wouldn’t let her wander far from my side, so boredom and exhaustion won out. She fell asleep as soon as Solo started tinkering around with the car. I squeezed her tighter under the weight of his penetrating gaze and purposely buried my nose in her sweet-smelling curls so I didn’t have to face his eyes directly. I was used to people looking at me with a mixture of disappointment and disdain, so I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t ready to face it from this big, brooding stranger.
“You’re not working the rest of the day, right?” He wiped a hand over his grim face and sighed again. “Instead of dropping me at my car, take me to work and I’ll give you a tune-up before your car gives up the ghost. I’ll catch a ride home with one of the guys.”
I shifted Noble’s weight and automatically shook my head in the negative. “You don’t have to do that. You got it running. That’s more than enough. You’ve already saved me from more than one really terrible situation. I can’t repay you for either, but I am so grateful you seem to have a knack for being in the right place at the right time.”
He propped a hip on the front end of the car and watched me unwaveringly. “You don’t need to repay me. In both instances, it was the right thing to do, and even though most people around here don’t adhere to the philosophy of doing right by others, my mom raised me better than that. If you can help out, you should. I can keep your car running for you beyond the two or three weeks it’s going to last if you don’t let me take it to my garage. Don’t turn down help around here when it’s offered. It doesn’t come by very often.”
It was my turn to sigh so heavily I was almost surprised that the whoosh of air didn’t blow him over. “It’s been my experience that nothing comes without the expectation of reciprocation. I can’t repay your kindness, and I doubt there’s any scenario in which I am going to be of any help to you. I’m not looking to get myself buried in a debt I can’t repay.” I didn’t know much about the way this dark part of the city operated, but I did have enough common sense to know that digging my hole any deeper was not a good idea. I didn’t want to owe anyone anything. This guy already made me uneasy. The last thing I wanted was to feel like I had to give in to him.
Solo pushed off the car and gave his head a shake. He put his ball cap back on and rolled his impressively built shoulders. “Trust me, you don’t have anything I want. I’m trying to be a nice guy and help a neighbor out. You don’t want my help, it’s your funeral. You don’t want to believe it’s possible there are people here who actually have a conscience and give a shit about the people around them, that’s on you. I have too much going on in my life to try and change your mind. Favors are not unlimited, no matter where you live, and bad people are not limited to these streets.” He gave a grunt as he bent to pick up his tools and gave me a cold look over his shoulder. “My car is in a lot a few blocks over. Since I’m already late, I’ll need you to drop me off after all.”
His sharp reprimand made me cringe. I felt like a little kid getting scolded by a teacher. A lot of times I forgot just how inexperienced and naïve I really was. I’d had Noble so young, and watched my world implode so recently, it was easy to forget how all those things happened before I was old enough to legally drink.
Freeing a hand from underneath Noble’s weight, I blindly reached out, locking my fingers around one of Solo’s solid, heavily tattooed forearms. Muscle flexed under my fingertips and I fought not to gasp at the sensation. His skin was so warm. He felt dynamic and unbreakable, nothing like the polished and smooth men I was used to. There was nothing soft here, and suddenly his level of hard made all kinds of sense. Everything in my new life was hard. The choices I had to make. The day-to-day survival. The act I had to keep up in order to fool my daughter.
“You’re right. I’d be an idiot not to take you up on the offer to fix my car for me. Thank you for the offer. I’m sorry if I’m being difficult. The last time someone offered to help me, I lost more than you can imagine.” I was used to be being pulled close with one hand, while the other stabbed me in the back. It was my own judgment I questioned, more than his intentions. “It’s no longer in my nature to take someone doing something nice for me at face value. I see hidden motives behind every good deed. That’s my issue, and it isn’t fair to cast every new person I encounter into the role of villain.” I huffed out a breath and shifted uncomfortably under Noble’s weight and his gaze. “I’m stuck here for the foreseeable future. There is no way out for me, but I don’t want this for Noble. I want her to thrive and succeed, and go wherever she wants to go in life. I know I need to learn how to live here so she can see it’s possible to have a home and be happy wherever you happen to end up.” I forced a smile and fluttered my eyelashes at him. That move used to work back in the day to soften whomever I directed the look at, but Solo seemed totally unaffected by the overt flirting. “I will be forever grateful if you can squeeze my car into your schedule today. I promise I will pay you back as soon as I find a new job and get on top of all the other bills I haven’t paid over the last few months.”